MikeLigalig.com

by PNA

An umbrella finance unit of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has released almost half a billion worth of loans to marginalized farmers and fisherfolk in the first six months of the year.

In a statement, Jovita Corpuz, executive director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), said some P452.4 million loans under the Agro-Industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP) have been released, which benefitted 10,288 agri-fishery borrowers across the country.

The agri-fishery financing programs that have been funded through the AMCFP include the Cooperative Banks Agri-Lending Program (CBAP), the Agri-Microfinance Program (AMP), the Cooperatives Agri-Lending Program (CALP), and the the Sikat Saka Program.

In the first half of 2012, the CBAP released the biggest amount of loans with a total of P400.9 million. This amount was able to finance the agri-fishery projects of 6,291 farmers and fisherfolk.

The CBAP is a program that provides funding support to eligible cooperative banks in the form of special time deposits (STD). The program was implemented in September 2011.

CBAP funds are used by participating cooperative banks to expand their small farm and fishing loan portfolio. CBAP loans for agricultural production or microfinance bear interest rates that do not exceed 15 percent per annum.

Meanwhile, the AMP, which is a joint program of the DA-ACPC with the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC), was able to release P45.6 million to 3,808 farmers and fisherfolk in the first semester of 2012.

Through the AMP, accredited microfinance institutions (MFIs) of the PCFC provide agri-micro loans to individual borrowers coming from small farm and/or fishing households. The program also gives priority to areas hit by natural calamities.

For its part, the CALP, a joint program between ACPC and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), released P4.7 million in loans to 159 farmers and fishers in the first semester of 2012.

Launched in June of 2011, the CALP provides a revolving credit line for cooperatives for the purpose of strengthening their lending services for their farmer and fisherfolk-members.

The Sikat Saka Program implemented jointly by the DA and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) released P1.25 million loans to 30 rice farmers in the first semester of 2012.

The Sikat Saka Program was set up in January 2012 for lending to small palay farmers in support to the DA’s Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP). It also provides a window that makes direct access to credit with the Land Bank of the Philippines available to rice farmers who are members of irrigator’s associations (IA).

Under this scheme, farmers will enjoy an interest rate of only 15 percent per annum for the first two cycles. For succeeding cycles, the interest may further go down by one percent per cycle provided the borrower consistently repays on time. The priority provinces of the Sikat Saka Program are Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo and North Cotabato.

Created by the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (RA 8435) and implemented since 2003, the AMCFP has already cumulatively generated P1.361 billion loans for 84,164 farmer and fisherfolk borrowers as of the first semester of 2012.

Corpuz said they expect lending under the AMCFP to peak in the second semester of 2012 as they adjust the program guidelines with guidance from the ACPC Governing Council.

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